Automatic coin dispensers substantially enhance the efficiency and accuracy with which retail sales transactions can be handled. Auxiliary coin dispensers which operate in conjunction with conventional electronic cash-registers or point-of-sale terminals accurately vend the number of coins to be returned to the customer based on the register's calculation of the total amount of change due, As a result, the register operator can complete each sales transaction more rapidly and more accurately.
However, conventional automatic coin vendors are incompatible with cash-drawer accounting procedures used in many stores. A cash-drawer accounting system makes each register operator responsible for the amount of currency at the sales station during the operator's shift. Typically, a new operator arrives at the station with a pre-counted collection of currency to be used for making change, and the departing operator empties the cash drawer of the remaining currency left at the end of the concluding shift. The store manager, given the register tape (or the equivalent) indicating the total cash income can verify that the amount of cash turned in at the conclusion of a shift equals the sum of cash income plus the currency originally allocated for making change. Cash-drawer accounting effectively deters petty theft and encourages careful procedures. Unfortunately, since it is typically inconvenient to remove and replace the coins in the sales station's coin dispenser at each operator shift change, the store's management is compelled to choose between the convenience of using coin dispensers and the security of cash-drawer accounting procedures.